Use of NPSs has rocketed in recent years, as have the number of deaths linked to them. Adams Owens’s death was linked to NPSs after he was found dead in Newtownards, Co Down, last month.

Adam Owens in pictures from social media

The plans will give authorities greater powers to stop newly created legal highs spreading on the streets as well as tackling so-called “head shops” which sell the substances. The announcement comes in the wake of a landmark legal case taken by Belfast City Council against the supply of the drugs which saw three people hit with community service orders yesterday.

Local Government Association spokesman Peter Fleming said: “Whilst council trading standards teams have performed an excellent job of tackling the issue of legal highs, the LGA has long argued that the current legislation is not fit for purpose.

“Legal highs are untested, unpredictable and a potential death sentence. Nobody can be sure of their contents or the effects that they could have.

“An outright ban on legal highs will rightly enable the closure of head shops and protect the public from devastating consequences.”

He added: “I am very pleased that the Government will bring legislation to ban so called ‘legal highs’. These substances should not be available to cause harm and take the lives of people in our society.

“The recent death of teenager Adam Owens has shown the importance of banning these substances. I would like to again pass on my thoughts to his family and to those who have lost a relative to these substances.

“I must praise the work of politicians from Northern Ireland, including the Justice Minister, who have brought pressure on the Home Office to bring forward such legislation.”